FileMaker Pro can import a folder of files in a single operation. Instead of inserting several pictures or QuickTime files one by one, you can import them all at once. You can also import a folder of text files, which is faster than copying and pasting the contents of each file.

FileMaker Pro can import any image file that you can insert with the Insert Picture and Insert QuickTime commands, including GIF, JPEG, EPS, TIFF, QuickTime Movie, and many other formats. Text files must be plain, text-only files with a .txt filename extension or a TEXT file type.

Important Because movie files are usually large, they are always imported by reference. If you’re importing large picture files, consider importing only a reference to each file. However, if you import files by reference and later move, rename, or delete a source file, FileMaker Pro won’t be able to display it. Also, consider importing both the smaller thumbnail and the image files into separate container fields. Designing some layouts to display the thumbnails instead of the full-size images may help increase the scrolling speed if you need to display many images in a list.

Mac OS: FileMaker Pro can import a folder of Portable Document Format (PDF) files into a container field. Each PDF file appears in QuickTime format. To display different pages in a multi-page PDF file, click the PDF file container field and use QuickTime controls.

If you import the File Path data into a field, you can open the original file directly from FileMaker Pro: select the entire file path text, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac OS) the text, and then choose Open File from the shortcut menu.